Change Firefox download location folder

By default, when you install Mozilla Firefox on your computer, it will have a series of settings configured a certain way, one of which is to save the pictures you save and files you download from the internet inside a particular folder - which varies based on which operating system you are using with Firefox - the "Downloads" folder in recent versions of Windows, for example. In this tutorial, you will learn how to change the default download location / folder Firefox uses for all files you save. You can either automatically save files in the same location folder, or Firefox can ask you every time where to save the downloaded file.

Change where Firefox saves downloaded files on your computer

This is how you customize your Firefox default download folder:

First, launch Firefox; once in the browser, go to Tools and choose "Options" (Windows and Linux - on Mac, click on the Firefox menu and choose "Preferences").

Make sure that the "General" tab is selected in the Options / Preferences dialog.

The second group of options, labeled "Downloads", allows you to customize the default download behavior Firefox uses (the previous tutorial explained how to hide the download confirmation window, for example).

If you want to make Firefox save files you download (automatically, and always) in the same folder, click on the "Save files to" radio button, and optionally pick a default download folder by clicking on the "Browse" button, and choosing a particular location on your computer, as shown on the screenshot below:

If you want to retain some control over where downloaded files are saved, on a case-by-case basis, you should instead choose the "Always ask me where to save files" option: Firefox will "remember" where it last downloaded a file or saved an image, so you should rarely need to change the download folder.

Click on the "OK" button to apply your new download settings, and return to Firefox.

The next time you save a picture from a website, or download a file from the internet, Firefox will follow the options you just configured; note that this is a "persistent setting", which Mozilla Firefox will remember from session to session (no need to reset your default download location whenever you restart Firefox, in other words).